hornady dies

toad

Well-Known Member
hi has anyone had any problems with hornady custom-grade dies . after resizing with the full lenght die and triming case the round is still tight to chamber. there seems to be no headspace at all. i have adjusted the die as indicated in the manuel but still the same. should i pull the rounds i have made. is no headspace very dangerous . :oops: can i take live primers out of the cases not botherd about reusing them just want to make the cases safe ,
 
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hi has anyone had any problems with hornady custom-grade dies . after resizing with the full lenght die and triming case the round is still tight to chamber. there seems to be no headspace at all. i have adjusted the die as indicated in the manuel but still the same. should i pull the rounds i have made. is no headspace very dangerous . :oops: can i take live primers out of the cases not botherd about reusing them just want to make the cases safe ,

More problems than I can describe.
What do you mean by "headspace"?~Muir
 
The problem you are experiencing could be caused by many things. Check the chamber is clean, make sure the bullet OAL is not too long for the chamber. I would resize a case then try it in the rifle. If it fits ok then seat the bullet head and try it again. If it becomes tight you are possibly deforming the case when seating the head. Let me no how you get on after trying what I recommend. It could also be that you have a faulty die, but take it one step at a time to eliminate the problem.
 
I had a similar problem, none of my cases that had been FL sized with my Lee die (that fit perfectly in my Steyr) would fit the new Howa, it was almost impossible to get the bolt to close.

Turned out that while the Howa passes the go/no go chamber size test it's right on the small end of the spec. I also borrowed and tried Hornady and RCBS dies, both gave the same results.

In the end my RFD put the die in his lathe and took enough off the bottom of the die base to allow about 3/4 of an extra turn of adjustment in the press. About 1/3rd of a turn was enough to bump the case shoulder back far enough to give a good fit.

Last visit to the US I picked up an RCBS Short Base die and cases FL sized with that fit perfectly.
 
easier to pull the decapping pin if you wanted to run them through again than waste a perfectly good box of primers

but I would say if they didnt size correctly the first time you should find out why rather than just do it again.

New brass?
once fired in your rifle? (am guessing not)
what bullets and how did you seat?

​where on the case is it fouling the chamber (you will see witness or brightening marks)?
 
More problems than I can describe.
What do you mean by "headspace"?~Muir

easier to pull the decapping pin if you wanted to run them through again than waste a perfectly good box of primers

but I would say if they didnt size correctly the first time you should find out why rather than just do it again.

New brass?
once fired in your rifle? (am guessing not)
what bullets and how did you seat?

​where on the case is it fouling the chamber (you will see witness or brightening marks)?
my understanding of the term headspace is the distance from the base of the cartridge to the portion of the case that stops its foward movment and if there is not enough headspace the round is very tight to chamber . this is what is happening to me . on the hornady dies you can adjust the amount of headspase but i am finding this very hit and miss.

bewsher i like that bit of advice about removing decaping pin and runing the through again
the problem has been that the die has not been reducing the sholder properly because i have not been adjusting the die correctly.just to add i am most definatly a nivice at reloading an am gratefull of any advice guys. especialy if i am creating excesive pressures .cheers ken
 
ok problem solved . but more important another lesson learnt. and another reminder how great this site is cheers lads
 
it was the adjustment on the hornady dies because one die can fully resize and neck only size the adjustment is critical . so i changed them for the lee die set.
maybe not such good build quality but a lot less hassle for the not so experianced also i was not paying enough attention to my trim length.
 
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